A brief summer rainstorm did little to stifle the fun - or the heat - yesterday at Summer on the Square in downtown El Dorado.
Sponsored by Main Street El Dorado and Noalmark Broadcasting, the street festival featured music, food and craft vendors, a Fun Zone for kids and lots and lots of grills.
A central facet of Summer on the Square was the Grill Wars, and grill warriors took up ample space on both Elm and Jefferson streets.
Grillers came from across the region to test their cooking skills, setting up with tents, out of RVs and with cooking implements ranging from huge smokers to the average backyard grill.
The fourth annual Grill Wars was sponsored by Delek and competitors took part by cooking two steaks and participating in the grilled cheese competition. The grand champion of the Steak Cookoff Association-sanctioned event was set to receive a $2,900 cash prize as well as a PKGO grill.
Four-time Steak Cookoff Association world champion Johnny Joseph was also at Summer on the Square, cooking up his own award-winning steaks and selling plates.
The competitors were still busy crafting their perfect steak and a winner had not yet been announced at press time on Saturday.
Elsewhere downtown, the El Dorado Masonic Lodge #13 was offering tours of their historic building on Washington Ave. throughout the day, giving local residents the chance for a glimpse at an interesting piece of architecture and history in the middle of downtown.
On Main Street, vendors including Kernel Mustard’s, Flossie’s, King Kone and Oh How Sweet Cotton Candy set up to provide attendees with refreshments.
Children were able to entertain themselves throughout the day in the Fun Zone, which featured bag toss games and several bounce houses.
One booth was set up and staffed by representatives from the Arkansas Foundation of Medical Care offering free COVID-19 vaccinations. There as part of a partnership program with the Arkansas Department of Health, the representatives said they had already had success generating interest in the vaccine just by talking to those who passed by.
Philip Shackelford, director of the SouthArk Community College Library, also had a booth set up at the festival.
Shackelford said he set up the booth to remind the public that the SouthArk Library is open to the public and available for all who obtain a library card to use.
Bands set up in front of the Union County Courthouse to play live music throughout the day. The Randall Lawson Band led off the line-up of bands around 12:30 p.m. and were followed by Brody McKinney at 2:30 p.m. and Crutchfield at 4 p.m.
Also on Washington Avenue was Cruise Night, a display of classic cars, which took place at 4 p.m.
The famous Showdown at Sunset concluded the festival at 6:30 p.m., followed by a concert by Tab Benoit at the First Financial Music Hall.